Is this the future of Marvel?
When we think of the term “animated superheroes” along with “Disney or Pixar”, the obvious first thing that comes to mind is the hit from nearly a decade ago The Incredibles. And though fans have demanded a sequel, it doesn’t seem poised to happen any time soon. With Disney’s acquistion of Marvel, the two have been working in depth with one another significantly, developing new projects for the future that deal with the post-Avengers era. While Captain America 2 is coming in 2014, there’s a rumor now that a more animated appearance may be coming in the same timeframe.
Blue Sky Disney (via Bleeding Cool and Hypable) might be in the planning stages right now under co-director of last year’sWinnie The Pooh big screen return Don Hall. The article says:
“The projects competing for 2014/2015 are the uber-secret film from Don Hall, which will be a marvelously unexpected project if it ever gets the green light, and Nathan Greno and Byron Howard’s films which are deep in development.”
“That project, once announced will generate a lot of buzz in certain geek communities, as it’s going to surprise a lot of people for what it is and what it’s not. But it’s in the very early embryonic stage and it depends on how well the project is received upon the presentation that is being prepared for John [Lasseter] and Ed [Catmull].”
Marvel President of Production Kevin Feige hinted that an animated superhero film is possible, and it seems that’s what really got the ball rolling. With Lasseter and Catmull looking over it, it’s hinted that Pixar could very much be involved, but nothing is definite just yet.
The biggest statement here happens to be one of the shortest: “It’s going to surprise a lot of people for what it is and what it’s not.” Bleeding Cool speculates that it could mean that the film could be an all-new Marvel character/movie created with Disney, deciphering it to mean it is a Disney/Marvel superhero film, but it’s not ”known Marvel property”.
The other option here is that future Marvel films on the development burner, such as Ant Man or Doctor Strange, could in fact take the animated turn. Doctor Strange fits the 2014 release perfectly, and Ant Man seems to be even further down the development ladder. However, with Edgar Wright saying that he secretly shot something this past week, Ant Man could indeed change, as it could be the post-credits Avengers scene many are hoping it is. Not to mention, Marvel/Disney still has one vacant mystery release spot open for May 16th, 2014 that the companies still have yet to reveal.
Whatever you do, take these reports with a grain of salt as they are very much unconfirmed, and even if in the earliest development stage, they could still be scrapped. However, it could very much be something to look out for.
